Fastening for attache and suitcases and the like



c. w. CHENEY 7,301 FASTENING FOR ATTACHE AND $UITCASES AND THE LIKE I Jan. 9, 1951 Filed Feb. 24, 1947 F/GLZ.

z u I J MH; b Tv w 5 t F Inventor C'ar/es M//mm (6027 Attorney Patented Jan. 9, 1 951 FASTENING FOR ATTACHE AND SUITCASES AND THE LIKE Charles William Cheney, Hockley, England Application February 24, 1947, Serial No. 730,375

In Great Britain February 25, 1946 The invention relate to fastenings for attach and suitcases and the like, of the kind in which the bolt thereof is withdrawn by manual operation of a slidableknob arranged on the face of the front plate of the fastening and in which a relatively revoluble ring-member arranged concentrically of said knob is adapted to be handoperated to block the withdrawal of the bolt by co-operation with a stop on the casing of the fastening. v

The invention herein disclosed is an improvement over and simplification of applicants own prior Patent No. 1,624,859, granted April 12, 1927. Fastenings for attach cases and the like are usually provided with key-locking mechanism 1 Claim. (Cl. 292-453) which, when the fastenings are to be made safe,

demand the insertion and operation of a key in a key hole formed in the slidable knob.

The public daily uses attach cases for carrying personal belongings which in many instances may not properly be described as Valuables but which, nevertheless, are important to the owner, and it is common practice not to use the key lockin mechanism for ordinary or routine journeys either due to carelessness or failure to find I the key. In this unlocked condition of the fastenings, should the spring loading the bolt fail, the fastenings will not longer be secure, While in the event of the knob being accidentally retracted, as often occurs when one mingles with a crowd, the same insecurity obtains and the case may unexpectedly open and the contents become upset and damaged or lost.

To guard against this disadvantage, the revoluble ring-member was employed, and in the past this revoluble ring-member has been mounted either between the face of the attachment plate and the back of the knob or rotatably mounted on a key peg of the fastening, the key for which is necessarily of the pipe type; this is undesirable because the bit of the key is usually so small that very little modification in its shape is possible. The knob and the ring were two parts handled separately when assem bling the fastening.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a fastening of the kind so that the hand blocking of the bolt against withdrawal and also the hand projection of the bolt into the fastening position is made clearly visible upon the face of the casing, and another object is a knob construction which is connected to the bolt only and not to any part of the casing and which is assembled and applied as a one-piece component of the fastening.

A fastening according to the invention, and

which is hereinafter fully described and specifically claimed, comprises a casing with a fixed projection on its face, a bolt slidable in the easing and a hand-operable knob-unit consisting of a permanently assembled centre-member and ring-member; the latter being rotatable upon the centre-member and having a cam-piece to operatevisibly against the fixed projection on the casing to block retraction of the bolt and to project the bolt into fastening position if, for any reason, the bolt spring fails.

It will be clear that the knob-unit connects only to the bolt and that the cam-piece of it is the only part using the-projection on the casing for bolt blocking and projecting.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig-l is a plan of a fastening for an attach case.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic longitudinal section of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an underside plan of the slidable knob comprising the centre member and the relatively revoluble ring-member assembled as a unit.

Fig. 4 is a composite view showing the centre member and the ring-member in section prior to assembly.

In the drawing, I is the front plate of the fastening and 2 the back plate thereof, and between these plates I, 2, there is a slidable spring-loaded bolt 3 whose nose is adapted to engage a hasp (not shown) through the hasp opening 4 in the front plate I. This bolt 3 is adapted to be retracted by a manually operable slidable knob 5 on the face 6 of the front plate I and this knob 5 consists of at least two essential partsa circular centre member I and a concentric ringmember '8, which latter is rotatably mounted on the centre member I and adapted to block retraction of the bolt 3 when partially rotated into a position when the ring-member co-operates with the casing I. In the example shown, this ring-member 8 is cupped into hollow form from a'sheet metal blank and includes a pair of diametrically opposite knobs 9, forming finger grips, and a cam-piece I2 extending from one of the knobs 9 to the normal boundary of the base I3 for approximately a quarter of the circumference of the ring-member 8. On the casing I, adjoining the composite knob 5, is an integral projection I4 which when the ring-member 8 is rotated through approximately co-operates with the edge of the cam-piece I2 and operates as an abutment thereby to resist retraction of the bolt 3. Alternatively, the cam-piece I2 could be dispensed with and a lug or stop on the interior of the ring-member 8 may be arranged to abut against the edge l5 of the usual opening it in the front plate I. It is preferred, however, to employ the cam-piece l2 and projection M since by simply twisting the ring-member 8 into a position when the cam-piece abuts against the projection [4, the user can see at a glance that the bolt cannot be retracted by the knob 5 and therefore that the fastening is in a condition of security.

The centre member 7 is a sheet metal pressing having a key hole It, a coned boundary flange ll, providing an inturned undercut formation, and two parallel ears I8 adapted to engage suit able openings in the bolt 3 and to be clinched thereon. The ring-member 8 has a conical flange IS in its bore, whict fits over the conical boundary flange ll of the centre member 1, and two lugs 20 which are closed inwardly over the flange ll thereby to closely and permanently connect the ring-member 8 to the centre member T and constitue a knob unit 5 so that the former can be partially revolved upon the latter for blocking retraction of the bolt 3 as hereinbefore explained.

The key hole 16 shown is of common shape for purposes of illustration, but any kind of key hole and key can be used for key-operated mechanism (not shown), i. e., a pipe or peg key or a flat key having a notched shank.

It is a great advantage from a mass assembly aspect to handle the centre member and ringmember as a knob unit ready for application to the bolt, and the way the ring-member is rotatably mounted on the centre member permits any kind of known key to be used for the key looking mechanism.

central knob portion having skirtmember and having an inturned conical wall resting on the conical wall of the skirt member, the Wall of said skirt member having ears bent over the wall of the central knob portion to secure the parts rotatably together; the wall of the ears extending through said skirt and knob receiving slot and being rigidly connected to said bolt, said knob unit being sildable with said bolt; a stop member fixed on the face of said front plate at the end opposite said hasp slot and adjacent said skirt member, said skirt member having a cam along a portion of its periphery rotatable into position in front of said stop member to prevent retraction of said bolt.

CHARLES WILLIAM CHENEY.

REFERENCES 'CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,624,859 Cheney Apr. 12, 1927 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 238,089 Great Britain Aug. 13, 1925 392,681 Great Britain May 25, 1933 

